Harness for looms.



J. R. LISTER.

HARNESS FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.10,1913.

1,117,680. Patented Nov. 17. 1914.

IIIII ms' R c-rsar.

Methuen, county JAMES R. LISTER, OF METHUEN, IMASSACHUSETTS.

HARNESS FOR LOOMS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES R. LISTER, asubject of the Kin of England, residing at or Essex, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Harnesses for Looms, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representinglike parts. i

This invention relates to improvements in harnesses for looms whichconsists in securing a series of heddles or healds at suitable intervalsupon an elastic supporting and binding member so that when said memberis stretched or permitted to contract the number of heddles within agiven space for a given width of loom may be varied and provisionthereby made for a greater or lesser number of warp ends for a given,

width of fabric.

It is frequently necessary, especially in mills which make fancy goods,to vary the number of warp ends for a given width of fabric to producecloth of different texture and it is customary for such mills to carry alarge number of harnesses having differently spaced heddles. hen a fiberharness is removed from a loom and hung in the store room for anyconsiderable length of time the varnish upon the heddles becomeshardened and cracks eventually weakening the harness so that the heddleseasily become broken when replaced in use. On the other hand if aharness is used continually the heddles will not be likely to breakuntil the harness is practically worn out.

One object of the present invention is to provide a harness which may beused. continually from the time it is put in the loom until it is wornout and one which may be varied in such a manner as to suit theclifferent conditions arising in respect to the requirements of thematerial production.

A further object of the invention is to provide an elastic harness madein standard wide or narrow sections which may be adapted to fit any loomand provide any desired number of heddles therefor. The wider sectionsmay have the width of standard looms and may be provided with thegreatest number of heddles desired for any work on the loom. When it isdesired to have a lesser number of heddles the harness may be stretchedto provide the number re- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 10, 1913.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Serial No. 794,400.

quired and the remainder cut oil". The narrower sections may be made instandard width and adapted to be placed upon the harness frame when itis desired to contract the main harness to supply a greater number ofheddles for a given width of loom.

I am aware that heretofore patents have been granted for extensibleharnesses but the heddles disclosed in such devices have been secured toor between convolutions of a helical spring or elastic member. I am not,however, aware that any extensible harness has been made in which aseries of beddles have been secured upon a tubular elastic member andknitted thereto in such a manner that the stretching of the elasticmember would space the, heddles at uniformly greater distances along theharness frame than the distance normally provided between the heddles.Nor am I aware that elastically supported sections of the standard widthhave heretofore been made.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inextensible core forthe elastic binding member adapted to support theharness when not in usewithout subjecting the elastic binding member to tension and also toprovide means whereby such elastic member may be secured to the harnessframe.

Other objects of the invention will more fully appear from theaccompanying description and drawing and the following claims.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a front elevation. of a harness for loomsembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a detail illustration partly insection and partly broken away showing a preferred form of my invention;Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional detail view of the elastic supportingmember and a portion of the heddle showing the means for securing theheddle upon the securing member; Fig. at is a view of a short section ofheddles mounted upon the elastic supports in accordance with myinvention, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of a modified form of elasticsupport for heddles made in accordance with my invention. a

A harness embodying my invention is illustrated in Fig. 1, in which thebars or shafts 1 and 2 are adapted to be supported in the ordinarymanner and-are threaded through the upper and lower loops of a series ofheddles 3. The heddles are connected to gether by elastic bindingmembers 4 and are secured thereupon by a cord 5 which preferably iswound twice through each loop of the heddle and around elastic member 4.The elastic member 4 may be of any suitable material such as rubber ormay be a helical spring or other form of elastic support. In order,however, to provide means for supporting the harness without distortionof the elastic member it is preferable to mount a tubular elastic memberupon an ineXtensible core. In a harness constructed in this manner theinelastic core may be also used to secure the harness to the frame.

In a preferred form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 2 the supportingand binding member comprises an inelastic core 6 preferably made of hempcord, but which may be composed of any other suitable material, aroundwhich is wound a helical spring 7 preferably made of round wire andwound tightly to provide a substantially smooth cylindrical surface ortube. An elastic covering 8 is preferably woven around said helicalspring and the heddles are secured upon said binding member by a cord 5which is passed through the loops of the heddles as aforesaid and boundtightly around the woven covering.

By this construction a harness is provided which is extensible uniformlythroughout its length and may be adapted to looms in such a manner as toprovide for any desired set that is for any desired number of warpthreads for a given width of loom. The harness may be applied to theframes by slipping the loops of the heddles over the bars 1 and 2 in theordinary manner and securing the binding member 4 at its middle to theheddle bars by means of staples 9 or other suitable fastenings.

In using this invention a harness containing the greatest number ofheddles for the loom would be originally obtained and secured to themiddle of the loom by the staple 9 as aforesaid, the ends of theinextensible cord 6 being secured to the ends of the harness bars in anysuitable manner as by passing downwardly through slots 10 provided forthat purpose and thereafter wrapped around the ends of the bars 1 and 2and tied or otherwise fastened thereto. Supplementive staples 11 may, ifdesired, be placed at intervals along the binding member to moresecurely fasten the same upon the bars 1. and 2 and to prevent thepossibility of unevenness in the spacing of the heddles, although thisis not. ordinarily necessary. If it is found desirable to weave a web ofcloth having a lesser number of warp threads the ends of the bindingmember are released from the bars 1 and 2, the supplemental stapleswithdrawn, and the elastic member slipped along its core until therequired number of heddles for the number of warp threads desired in thefabric is obtained, and the portion of the binding member carrying theunnecessary heddles cut off. The ends of the helical elastic member maybe easily secured to the inextensible supporting cord-by pinching downor twisting the last coil of the spring upon the cord. The staples arethen replaced and the ends of the binding member secured to the harnessbars. if after using the harness thus extended, it is desired to returnto a greater number of warp threads for the same width of cloth thesupporting end portions of the binding cord are released from theharness bars, the'staples withdrawn, and the elastic member andconsequently the harness permitted to contract to its originalcondition. This of course, will leave an empty space at the end of theharness bars, and to provide the required number of heddles for thisspace a narrow section of harness 12 (see Fig. 4) having a sufficientnumber of heddles to complete the full harness for the loom is supplied.These sections are preferably made in standard widths and are likewisesupported upon elastic binding members in the manner aforesaid. Ifdesirable the entire harness may be made up of a series of such narrowsections.

By reason of the construction above described a single harness for eachloom may be used continuously until the same is worn out, for ifdifferent numbers of warp threads are desired in the weaving ofdifierent webs of cloth the harness can be expanded or permitted tocontract as above stated.

A modified form of this invention is disclosed in Fig. 5 in which theelastic supporting and binding member comprises an inextensible core 20around which is placed a helical spring 21 which is inclosed or embeddedin an elastic composition 22, such as rubber, an elastic cover 28 beingknitted around said elastic member and the heddles being secured uponthe same in any suitable manner as by a cord fastening around theelastic covering in the manner above described.

The process of constructing a harness in accordance with my inventioncomprises first constructing a helical coil of round or flat wire in theform of a small cylinder or tube braiding thereupon an elastic covering,drawing through the extensible member thus formed I an inextensible corepreferably closely fitting the interior of the cylindrical tube andfinally knitting the heddles upon the elastic tube. During the knittingof the bed dles upon the tubular member the ends of the spring aresecured to the inelastic core so that the spring is prevented fromexpanding.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a harness for looms, a heddle supporting and binding memberconsisting of an inextensible core, a cylindrical elastic memberslidably mounted upon said core and means for securing the heddles tosaid cylindrical member whereby the distance between said heddles may bevaried by causing the extension or permitting the contraction of saidmember.

2. A harness for looms comprising a heddle supporting and binding memberconsisting of a helical spring and an extensible covering for saidspring and a series of heddles secured upon said supporting member atsuitable intervals, whereby the distances between said heddles may bevaried by causing the extension or permitting the contraction of saidmember.

3. A harness for looms comprising a bed dle supporting member consistingof a helical spring, an elastically woven cover for said spring, and aseries of heddles supported by means looped around said elasticcovering.

4. In a harness for looms a heddle supporting and binding membercomprising an inextensible core, an integral elastic covering thereforand a series of heddles secured upon said elastic covering.

5. In a harness for looms a heddle supporting and binding membercomprising an inextensible core, a cylindrical integral elastic coveringslidably mounted thereon, a series of heddles and a cord looped throughsaid heddles and around said elastic covering.

6. A harness for looms, a heddle support ing and binding membercomprising an inextensible core, a helical spring surrounding andslidably mounted upon said core, and an elastic covering for saidspring.

7. A harness for looms comprising a pair of bars, a series of heddlesmounted upon said bars, a supporting and binding member for said heddlescomprising an inextensible core, an extensible covering for said coreupon which said heddles are secured, whereby the distances between theheddles may be varied by changing the tension upon said members, slotsin the ends of said shafts adapted to receive and hold the ends of saidinextensible core, and means for securing said elastic covering to saidshafts.

S. A harness for looms comprising a pair of shafts, a series of heddlesmounted upon said shafts, a binding member for said heddles comprisingan inextensible core, an eX- tensible member surrounding said core,heddles knitted upon said members, whereby the distances between theheddles may be varied by changing the tension upon said extensiblemember, slots in the ends of said shafts adapted to receive and to holdthe ends of said inextensible core, and means for attaching said elasticcovering to said shafts, comprising staples adapted to embrace saidbinding member, and secure the same to said shafts.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES R. Lis'rnn.

\Vitnesses ROBERT Honen, CARLETON ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

